1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to containers for the storage of fishing tackle.
2. Description of Related Art
Many products have been developed to store and transport fishing tackle of all kinds. These products have attempted to provide the convenience and versatility needed to satisfy fishermen using a variety of different baits. The hooks and thin wires that make up common fishing lures, such as spinner baits and buzz baits, tend to cause the lures to become tangled with each other when placed in proximity to one another.
Also, because these baits are made in irregular shapes and are produced in many different sizes, it is difficult to design a container versatile enough to accommodate the needs of the average fisherman.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,422 discloses a structure for the storage of spinner baits. A typical spinner bait is comprised of a V-shaped wire portion, with an elbow at the vertex that allows for compression of the wires without causing plastic deformation. The '422 patent includes a flat surface to which is attached three pegs in an isosceles triangle formation. According to the '422 patent, the elbow of the bait is placed over the odd peg and the wires of the bait are placed on the inside of the other pegs.
A severe limitation of the design in the '422 patent is that a very small range of sizes of spinner baits can be accommodated. The distance separating the three pegs is fixed, so that if the wire segments are too short, they will not reach from the odd peg to lob the other two. Also, this design requires a significant amount of space per bait because the baits are stored in a single plane. Another shortfall of the '422 patent is that it requires three points of attachment for a spinner bait, adding to the complexity and manufacturing cost of the device.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art for a tackle container that can store numerous lures, regardless of their size, efficiently and conveniently.